A bot and his fox
by Kaysin-12
Summary: I fixed the paragraph problem and I start writing the characters names right in the second chapter, hope you enjoy!
1. Default Chapter

This story takes place: Just after the Primal Screams episode where every one thinks they're real animals. Disclaimer: The only characters I own are the new ones and their not even sentient beings so I guess I'm not claiming much. The Maximals and Predicons belong to Marvel Company LTD, Hasbro, and Mainframe Entertainment as far as I know. If I'm wrong please e-mail me at Sandrad_sead@yahoo.com and set me straight. Thank you and please enjoy. Lots of love, Kaysin-12  
  
Burrrrrrrrrr.Smack!  
  
"(Growl) Stupid chronometer! Such a nice dream to." The young maximal leapt from the metal shelf that served as his bed and stretched in typical cat fashion. He then proceeded to groom his beastmode and transform. After booting up on his daily ration of energon the kid cat left the mesh hall and reported in at the central command room.  
  
"(Yawn) Morning." Cheetor took his usual post. "So where are bigbot and the others?" Rhinox was a few feet away working on yet another new invention and he didn't bother to look up as he answered,  
  
"AirRazor and Tigertron are out on patrol; Optimus, Dinobot, and RatTrap are investigating some Pred activity in the western quadrant." The large mechanism grumbled. Cheetor got the feeling that Rhinox didn't want to be bothered so he turned back to his screen but to his surprise,  
  
"Hey! Somebody already did systems check and climate control!"  
  
"That would be me!" Came a gravely voice from behind. The feline youth turned to see Dinobot step off the elevator with Optimus and RatTrap by his side. Optimus was fuming and his tone was stern as he began his reprimand, "Do you realize what time it is?!" The golden eyed boy visibly gulped as he answered,  
  
"Uh.one a.m?"  
  
"Try one p.m.! As in you slept twelve hours late!" Upon seeing the ashen look on his charge's face the silverback gorilla sighed, "Look, most of the day is gone and Dinobot has already done your duties." At this comment the large raptor snarled but was silenced by a glare from Optimus as he continued, "So why don't you just take off and have some fun?"  
  
"What?! The kid slacks off and you let him." Primal held up a hand to show that the subject was closed to discussion.  
  
"Go on Cheetor." The feline boy felt a heaviness in his chest plate as he walked past the elder warriors and exited the base. Then Optimus explained his odd choice of punishment. "Cheetor looks up to me as a role model and friend. My disapproval of his actions is greater then any other punishment I can think of. Ha." The commander smiled as if recalling something, "I remember when my mentor used to pull that stunt on me! Trust me guys he wont let this happen again." Dinobot snorted and walked down the hall mumbling something about his days as a cadet and stricter, BETTER methods. Meanwhile Cheetor had been running a top speed for as long as he could to drown out how badly the day was going. Soon he found himself twenty clicks away from base.  
  
"Ah man! I'll never make it back before sundown! Great now I'll be grounded for braking curfew! What else can go wrong?" Then he heard it, Kah-chick! The sound of the safety on a laser pistol switching to off right behind his ear. "Slag!"  
  
"Transform, drop all weapons in your possession, and put your hands were I can see 'em kid!" It was Terrorsuar; he could recognize that nasal whine anywhere.  
  
"Maximize!" Cheetor dropped his Quasar cannon and tail riffle then he reached under his chest plate for a little surprise he had brought along just in case, "Ya got me needle nose!" He scoffed. Terrorsuar squinted with suspicion, "What are you reaching for brat? Give it to me!"  
  
"Heh." Cheetor smiled and whirled around, "Remember you asked for it!" The Energon grenade fused onto the saurian's head and went off almost immediately sending both warriors flying in separate directions. Cheetor grabbed a tree limb, spun on it once, and landed in a crouching position.  
  
"Pred heads never learn! Ouch!" The teenager realized that he hadn't 'walked' away totally unscratched; there was a small piece of sherdnal stuck in his shoulder. As he pulled it out he heard a noise so pathetic that it could have never have come from him. Moving some ferns Cheetor found an average sized red fox with a large cut in its right hind leg. Its breathing was labored and there was no telling how far back it had been thrown in the blast.  
  
"Poor thing must be in shock. Come here little guy, it's okay." The fox mad no move to attack as the Cybertronian boy gently scooped it up, in fact the vulpine nuzzled his neck and made a faint chirping noise as if it was relieved by his presence. Cheetor checked for any broken bones, upon finding none he placed the fox down, "I'll clean your wound and then bring you back to base. Don't be scared now." The fox instantly began to squirm when Cheetor went to beast mode,  
  
"Easy. It's still me. Calm down." The sound of his voice helped a little but the tiny creature still quivered as the boy bot cleaned the dirt from the lengthy injury, "At least it's not deep. Come on little guy." Cheetor gently nudged the fox onto his shoulders, ignoring the pain from his own newly acquired battle scar, and set off at top speed back to base.  
  
It was late evening when the Maximal headquarters loomed on the horizon. Cheetor stood on a cliff just out of surveillance range trying to figure out what to do next, "I can't just walk in with you. RatTrap will complain, Dinobot will want to eat you, and I don't have any idea how AirRazor, Rhinox, and big bot will take it!" The fox sighed and dropped its ears. "Oh that does it! I gotta find a way to get you in. You're too cut to abandon!" Cheetor nuzzled the smaller life form lovingly and then looked back down at his home, suddenly the solution struck him.  
  
Meanwhile Optimus was going over some files in the command room. He could have done this in his personal chambers but he was worried about Cheetor being out so late and wanted to speak to him when his returned. Primal had no real children and he considered Cheetor like a little brother or a son of sorts. Just as he was thinking about going out to look for him the elevator rose with the kid cat in robot mode.  
  
"Uh.hey Optimus.uh.look I'm really sorry about this morning. It won't happen again! Promise! Kay, g'night!" The self proclaimed golden rocket shot down the hallway as fast as his feet would carry him. As he rounded a corner Cheetor slammed right into Dinobot, "Sorry!" The young seer merely leapt over the flattened raptor and dove into his room. The door slide shut with a click signaling that the automatic lock had been activated. Cheetor sighed with relief and removed the fox from his chest plate compartment. He placed the small creature on his desk and started looking threw his drawers for some clean polishing rags to wrap its wound in, "Hope the ride wasn't too rough little guy but.!" BAM, BAM, BAM! The startled vulpine jumped at the sudden racket,  
  
"You infuriating fur ball! Come out of there and face me!" Dinobot growled threw the thin door. Cheetor groaned,  
  
"Jumping gyros am I in for it now! Just a minute!" Cheetor flung the pile of rages over the fox, "Stay there or you're lunch!"  
  
"What are you doing in there?!"  
  
"Dinobot what's going on?" Optimus's voice joined Dinobot's out in the hall and Cheetor slide out of his room closing the door behind him.  
  
"Look I said I was sorry! It's not like I meant to plow you down!" Ignoring the enraged raptor Primal turned his youngest warrior to face him,  
  
"Cheetor you're bleeding!" The boy's golden gaze fell to the floor,  
  
"Uh.yeah. That's why I was late tonight. I got in a tussle with Terrorsuar on my way back. It's nothing major, I can hardly feel it!" The freckled youth tried a weak smile but now that his mind wasn't so busy he realized just how much the wound really hurt, "I'll hop in a CR chamber in a minute right now I gotta fix my chronometer." For a moment Cheetor didn't think he'd buy it. Optimus just stood there, arms crossed, frowning. Finally,  
  
"Never mind that, I'll fix it. You get repaired before you end up with an infection."  
  
"Sure thing big bot!" Cheetor ducked back into his room and snatched up the disk like device. Optimus tried to force open further but it remained in place,  
  
"Something wrong with your door Cheetor?"  
  
"He is hiding something!" Dinobot snarled.  
  
"Eh, sorry." The feline boy shoved the scarlet head of the fox back under the pile of cloths and rushed out of his room, "My den's a mess and I'd rather you not see it." It was a good excuse as any and believable considering his age. Cheetor handed Optimus his chronometer and fallowed the two adults back to the command center.  
  
Such a minor (yet annoying) injury would only take twenty terrain minutes to heal in a CR chamber and while Cheetor was in the cramped compartment Dinobot and Primal discussed his unusual behavior,  
  
"We should search his room." The striped saurian narrowed his large eyes as he glared at the reflective surface of the chamber door, "He's acting paranoid."  
  
"Ha!" Optimus covered his mouth too late to catch the laugh, "No offence meant my friend but you're no one to talk! And as for searching his room, that's out of the question. I will not invade his privacy unless I think it necessary to assure everyone's safety." Just then the door rose and Cheetor stepped out eagerly,  
  
"May I go now, or do you need me for something?" His gold optics blinked once as Dinobot snarled and stomped away. Primal shook his head and sighted,  
  
"No Cheetor that will be all. I expect a full report on your encounter with Terrorsuar tomorrow though." The rather small ape smiled, "We'll make a trade of it. Your chronometer for the report and you will get up on time right?" Cheetor's fangs became visible as he returned his commanders grin and said good night. Upon returning to his courtiers the Maximal teen was greeted by the comical sight of the fox with rages hanging from its ears, bushy tail waging happily,  
  
"Hey little one." Cheetor sat down and began wrapping the critters wound. Surprisingly the fox was very cooperative. "Now that we're both on the mend I gotta think of a name for you." The vulpine chirped and licked his hand as he scratched it behind its big ears. "Hmmm. What suits you? How about Pax?"  
  
"Grrrrr!"  
  
"Okay no!" Cheetor chuckled, "Chip?" The fox snarled, "Binx?" The small animal covered its muzzle with a paw and Cheetor took this as another negative response. "Humph! You're a tough one to please. Let's see.I haven't tried any Maximal names yet."  
  
"(Bark!)"  
  
"Huh? What? Max? Is that what you want for a name?"  
  
"(Bark!)"  
  
"Alright Max it is! Now get some sleep. I have a report to write." Cheetor sat the newly dubbed Max in a box with the remaining cloths as a bed but the small vermin wasn't about to stay there. Max leapt onto Cheetor's lap and gave a small whimper of discomfort,  
  
"Well what did you expect? A couple of bandages are hardly a miracle cure." The cybertronian teenager smiled and went back to his report, "At precisely 1800 hours Cyber time, Maximal unit Cheetor engaged Predicon unit Terrorsuar, in sector."  
  
"(Gurglglglgle)" Cheetor blinked as he looked down at Max,  
  
"What the spotted heck was that? Don't tell me you're hungry." The fox smiled as it painted, "Oh great! (Sigh) Just what do foxes eat anyway?" He wondered out loud, and then he remembered something Optimus had taught him,  
  
"Long canine teeth mean carnivore and short canines with big molars means herbivore." Gently lifting the fox's upper lip Cheetor was rewarded by the sight of glisoning fangs.  
  
"Okay you're a meat eater." The mere concept of killing something and then consuming it made Cheetor's power core churn, "Belch! Man, what am I gonna do? I have nightmares about hunting in beast mode!" Max, sensing the feline boy's discomfort, bunted his hand. Cheetor realized that he couldn't let the small creature starve.  
  
"It was my fault you were hurt in the first place. I gotta take responsibility for you. The problem is.I don't know how to hunt." Max hobbled onto the desk and batted a picture nearly knocking it off onto the floor,  
  
"Hey! Be careful you midget wolf! That's the only picture of Tigertron I got!" Cheetor tried to sound mad but Max licked his face and caused the youth to laugh. "Ya see? This is my bud Tigertron." Max sniffed the image of the white and green Maximal from his place on the desk.  
  
"He's real smart when it comes to nature. Oh talk about being a motor head!" Cheetor grinned as he fell back into his chair, "The answer was right in front of me the whole time! I'll watch Tigertron's friend, SnowStalker, and learn from her!" Max barked joining in on Cheetor's enthusiasm. Meanwhile AirRazor had been passing by Cheetor's quarters and heard the muffled sounds,  
  
"Yo kid, you alright? You sound.strange." The she-hawk said threw the door. For a moment the freckled boy considered pretending to not be there but that might cause the concerned aviator to enter.  
  
"I'm fine AirRazor. I just.uh.swallowed wrong. Yeah and.um, I was coughing!" There was a tense moment of silence as AirRazor considered this and then,  
  
"Okay but whom were you talking to? Don't tell me you have an imaginary friend!" Cheetor frowned and held back a growl. He could just picture the smile on her face without even opening the door.  
  
"Oh yeah, real funny! I'm going over a report for Optimus and saying it out loud helps me to find mistakes. Any thing else ms. hall monitor?" AirRazor crossed her arms and frowned at the door. Cheetor was usually very polite.  
  
"No. And excuse me for caring about your mental health!" Max's ears perked up as they listened to AirRazor stomp away. Suddenly the cat bot felt very ashamed of how he had handled the situation.  
  
"I'll make it up to her later. Right now I gotta get you something to eat." After petting Max to sleep Cheetor quickly finished his report and slipped out of the base heading north.  
  
It was around seven p.m when the cheetah finally spotted (pun intended) the two tigers. He could tell which was the real animal by their scents. One smelt like a steel garter with a fake fur coat draped over it. That was Tigertron. The other smelt like fresh air after a snow storm, that was SnowStalker. 'I'm in luck!' Cheetor thought, 'They seem to be hunting something and the wind is on my side.'  
  
Suddenly SnowStalker crouched down and all of her muscles went tense beneath her thick fur. She remained totally still for an instant only then with speed, that seemed impossible for one of her bulk to posses so naturally, she fired the powerful tendons in her legs and pounced. The roar she emitted was enough to chill the young Maximal's mechfluid and Cheetor lurched back in horror as the unfortunate gazelle met a quick yet tragic end.  
  
"So.so much blood! No! I can't! I just can't do that!" He turned to flee the scene of carnage but was knocked flat by a frying pan sized paw. "Ah! No! Tigertron, it's me!" The bangle tiger halted his defensive assault.  
  
"(Sigh) Sorry little cat but when SnowStalker hunts I kind of revert to more ancient instincts. I feel it's my duty to keep other predators from stealing her hard earned meals." He sat back on his haunches and watched as Cheetor rose on shaky legs, "You alright? I didn't hurt you did I?"  
  
"Na.no. Uh.I'm.I'm fine." Cheetor cringed at what sounded like a bone braking in two. "Ugh. I thought it was dead." The teen feline gasped.  
  
"It is," The elder cat assured him, "But you don't expect her to swallow it whole do you? She got a good one tonight. It's hard to find any creature that's lived long enough to warrant targeting it with enough meat to fill her in one setting. She'll take a nap when she's done and I can do my rounds for the night. Care to join me?" Tigertron's nonchalant tone was remarkable to the youth who was about to swoon if he didn't get away from the feasting female tiger soon.  
  
"(Gulp) Sure. Love to." They walked in silent for what seemed to be a long time and this disturbed Tigertron. First of all he was wondering why the boy was out so late and how he got Optimus to let him leave base at such an hour, that is if the commander knew about it at all. Finally the white cat decided it was time for answers. He stopped near a stream and waited as Cheetor took a drink.  
  
"You need something from me. Otherwise you wouldn't risk Optimus's punishment if he found out you came out so late and so far from the base." No answer. Tigertron sighed again and moved up to sit beside him. It was a strange sight, one of snow one of sun, one of stripes the other spots, an impossible pair by nature's rules but here they were, friends.  
  
Cheetor felt numb from the shock he had experienced. Though his body remained still his mind was racing. What to do? How could he bring himself to commit such an act? And if he couldn't what would become of Max?  
  
Tigertron was getting scared. He'd never seen Cheetor so distraught. The urge to comfort the younger cybertronian became too great for the tiger and he nuzzled his neck like a father would a cub. Tigertron purred and suddenly Cheetor felt safe. Like the bangle was the only one in the world who could understand his dilemma. He felt like he could tell Tigertron everything, about lying to the others, even about Max but Cheetor came to his senses and decided that he had done too much lying to turn back now.  
  
"Come on kid. There have never been any secrets between us. What's bothering you?" Cheetor gulped. This wasn't going to be easy but then it dawned on him. He didn't really have to lie just leave out a few parts. That couldn't be considered lying.could it?  
  
"I've been having the worst day of my life." Cheetor sighed and flopped down crossing his front paws and resting his chin on them. This raised a chuckle from Tigertron who remained sitting up.  
  
"Trust me; you're still young, you'll have worse." The spotted teen glared at him then turned his gaze at his reflection in the calm stream. It was easier if he didn't look the tiger in the eye.  
  
"I'm serious. I woke up twelve hours late! Bigbot was so disappointed he couldn't think of a good enough punishment he just dismissed me. Then while I'm jogging I got side swiped by Terrorsuar, I mean Terrorsuar! Of all the Preds why him?! It was so embarrassing to put on the report." Tigertron was quite for a moment then he smiled and said,  
  
"Well it could've been Waspinator. And you did win.right?" Cheetor laughed at this comment and Tigertron lay down to be on his level.  
  
"Yeah, I won. I blew his head off with an Energon Grenade!" This earned him an approving grin from the adult feline. "Any way, I got home and ran down Dinobot, it was an accident but you know how ole leather head can be." Tigertron nodded, "And before the evening was over I even ticked off AirRazor." If Cheetor hadn't had Tigertron's full attention before he certainly did now.  
  
"How by the Matrix did you accomplish that? She's usually so calm." Cheetor dipped a paw in the water and shrugged.  
  
"I don't know. I guess I was a little crabby after everything else and she picked the wrong day to try and joke with me."  
  
"Well don't worry too much about it. Just say you're sorry. Maybe even tell her all that you have told me. She'll understand." Cheetor only half heard his striped companion. He was more interested in scaring a small school of fish that might have been some strange ancestor of trout. That's when a brilliant idea came to him.  
  
"Hey Tigertron.what do small carnivores eat? Optimus has been tutoring me on the local wild life but he never mentioned what little critters do for food. They can't take down an antelope."  
  
"It was a gazelle." The tiger smiled. He could already see the change in the boy's mannerism.  
  
"What ever. What do.oh say badgers, weasels, foxes.those kind of animals do?" Tigertron chuckled under his breath as the old ejective, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back, came to mind.  
  
  
  
"They forage mostly. Those that can, like the weasels, climb trees and rob bird nests. Some even eat other creatures that are already dead." Cheetor began to feel sick again and took another drink before asking his next question,  
  
"How about fishing? Do any of them do that?"  
  
"Yes many animals' fish. Everything from bears to birds to those that you mentioned. In fact I even saw SnowStalker do it once." This perked Cheetor's interest all the more.  
  
"Really? You'd think she wouldn't have to considering what she did to that." He paused to shudder "Uh.so how did she catch them?" Tigertron ignored the young cheetah's momentary show of discomfort and stood.  
  
"Like this." He said and crotched watching the water carefully. He flexed his claws and squinted then suddenly he lunged forward and flung a still flapping silver fish in front of Cheetor, who had jumped back to avoid the splash.  
  
"Whoa! That was too cool! So quick!" Cheetor's greenish yellow eyes were larger then ever with surprise. Tigertron picked up the swimming beast by its tail as gently as he could and flung it back into the water. "Hey!" Shouted Cheetor.  
  
"What? Don't tell me you wanted to try it! Look little cat I know Dinobot and RatTrap eat organic food for fun but have you asked them about the repercussions? It can really gum up your systems if you don't have the proper filters built in." Cheetor frowned and glared at the glisoning water. Oh well. He'd just have to catch one on his own later at the river by the base. Far up stream to avoid the others seeing him on the scanners of course.  
  
"Thanks for the advice and for listening to my problems big cat. I'd better head back." He bunted heads with the heaver feline and turned to walk back.  
  
"Do you want me to come along and tell Optimus that you were with me the whole time?" Cheetor smiled over his shoulder never stopping.  
  
"No that's okay. Thanks for the offer. You'd better get back to SnowStalker before she begins to worry." And with that Cheetor bolted, ignoring the low branches that brushed his face as he shot between the tree trunks. 


	2. Trouble on the horizon

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one for the Disclaimer, thank you! Lots of love, Kaysin-12  
  
Chapter #2  
  
Winter was settling in at the northern territories. Both the Maximal and Predicon forces were oblivious to the fact that that particular region would one day be the Terrain countries of North America and Canada where their ancestors the Autobots and Decepicons would wage the better half of Great Wars one and two. But that is unimportant to this story. It merely illustrates the passage from late summer to early winter.  
  
When Cheetor had found Max the small creature was scrawny and bedraggled but now there was a shine to its red coat and an air of complete contentment. It never accorded to Cheetor to let the animal go, not even after he took off the bandages and it was plain that Max had made a full recovery.  
  
After a few months of cleaning, feeding, and all around caring for the vermin the Cybertronian lad had become extremely fond of it. True, it made life harder having to sneak in and out at odd hours just to dispose of what wasn't needed and to retrieve what was required to keep his pet healthy, but that only made things seem more interesting. Like it was some kind of espionage game.  
  
He was also becoming good at telling believable stories to cover his tracks. He preferred to call them stories. Lying was for dishonest people like Preds. He justified this belief by telling himself that their wasn't anything dishonest about a kid like him caring for a 'helpless' animal. It would seem that he was becoming such a good liar that he could even convince himself of this when he knew full well deep in his spark that it was a false statement.  
  
It was on a beautiful, all be it chilly, day that Optimus offered to let Cheetor leave the base for some recreation as a reward for not shirking his duties, or disobeying orders in the slightest for the past few months. Needless to say the ape was surprised when Cheetor declined the offer to instead go to his room and take a nap. Rattrap barred the younger bots way and squinted at him with suspicion,  
  
"Alright who are ya and what did ya do with the kid?" Rattrap asked. Cheetor laughed innocently and pushed by the rodent.  
  
"Very funny Gouda breath! Can't a guy get tried around here?" Airazor put a hand on Primal's large shoulder to stop him from halting the cat bot and further questioning him.  
  
"Look, I know this may seem strange but lets leave him be. He's not hurting anything."  
  
"Yet!" Dinobot cut off the femme hawk and snarled "I can not believe I am saying this but the pestilence may be right. What if he is a Predicon clone such as the one Megatron made of me?" Optimus frowned and crossed his arms putting a hand to his chin in thought  
  
"How can you say that when he just walked out of the room in robot mode? Your clone couldn't transform and I doubt Megatron has fixed that little glitch in this short amount of time. Considering how busy he's been making our lives difficult." Rhinox put in his thoughts to the conversation.  
  
"What Rhinox says is true." Primal said, looking up, not at anything particular.  
  
"Yeah but I still have my doubts about his attitude adjustment. I mean one little time out a few months ago can't turn a teenybopper into such a work hound." Rattrap scoffed.  
  
"And why not? Cheetor's a good kid Rattrap. Even you would have to emit that." Optimus smirked.  
  
"I ain't emitting nothin' fearless leader!" The rodents tone undid his mannerism. He couldn't completely mask the fact that he was joking.  
  
"He usually confides in me but lately he's been very distant socially. I guess I was so pleased with his new obedience that I've been ignoring my concern at this change in him." The large ape bot's optics seemed distant as he became lost in thought. Airazor's comment brought him back to the present,  
  
"Have you thought of talking to Tigertron about it? If you can't get Cheetor to talk then maybe that's just because he already has spilt his troubles to someone else." She shrugged as if to dismiss the thought as silly but Primal thought it a great idea.  
  
"I'll do just that. But first I want to give talking to Cheetor one more try. Excuse me." He walked past Dinobot and Airazor down the hall and around the corner. For a moment the commander considered not knocking.  
  
It seemed every time some one did knock Cheetor would request that they wait a moment and then one would hear some kind of bustling from inside after which the door would open and the visitor would be blocked at the entrance.  
  
No, not knocking would be rude and that type of treatment was inappropriate, he thought.  
  
Of course it might be the only way to find out what was going on.no! Optimus shouted to himself mentally. That would be a violation of his privacy.but then again.what if he was hurting himself?  
  
"So this is what it's like to have kids. No wonder I never settled down." Primal smirked and finally knocked.  
  
"Just a minute!" Cheetor's voice rang out with the expected response and Optimus found himself already wondering if he had done the right thing. Whoosh! The door retracted into the wall and the boy bot placed his arms against the frame as nonchalantly as he could.  
  
"That was quick. Did I wake you?" Cheetor frowned confused for a split second at this comment and then remembered,  
  
"Oh no Bigbot. I just got restless. Don't cha hate it when you can't get comfortable?" He smiled and some strange movement in the room, visible over the youths shoulder, caught the gorilla's attention.  
  
"What's that on your desk?" Cheetor's large golden optics seemed almost antsy as he glanced in the designated direction. He turned back to his mentor and shrugged rather nervously.  
  
"Just some old rages I gotta rinse out. Ya know I think I will take that trip outside you suggested Optimus. I've been spending too much time in the base. See ya!" He hit the automatic lock and shut the door quickly then bolted down the hall away from the concerned adult. Optimus sighed heavily.  
  
  
  
"Well that could've gone better!" He grumbled. Meanwhile Airazor was entering into the main computer some data she had collected on a strange contraption the Predicons were building suspiciously close to the Maximal territory border.  
  
"It appears to be highly mobile and ridged for fire arson." The she-hawk stated to Rhinox, who was examining the image of the cannon like weapon on the screen in front of them.  
  
"Hmmm. Sounds like Inferno and Scorpinok have pooled their imaginative efforts." The largest Maximal frowned.  
  
"So should we start ridging up our own gizmo to counter it or what?" Rattrap asked just as Cheetor came tearing threw the room in beast mode. "Yo kid! Where ya going in such a hurry? You act like your tail was caught in a mouse trap!" Cheetor gave a faint smile before pushing the down button,  
  
"I am a cheetah after all. I only have one speed!"  
  
"Yeah well just watch your back out there. The Preds are up to something serious." Airazor cautioned him. The feline youth just smirked as the panel sunk down and said,  
  
"When are they not?" Optimus walked over to the screen and wondered if he should accompany the teen but it was too late Cheetor was already off and moving fast.  
  
"So how did it go?" Airazor asked from her seat. Primal glanced into her emerald green optics and said,  
  
"Let's just say it went less then prime. I hope Tigertron knows what's gotten into him lately. Now about this new weapon." Later that day, in fact much later like ten p.m, Cheetor came in with a bag slung over his shoulder.  
  
"Thank the Matrix for good night vision." He whispered. Turning on the light might alert the others to his presence.  
  
Click! The neon lights flashed into life and there sat Airazor, Tigertron, and Optimus at the council table. For a moment Cheetor's optics played a trick on him. He saw his parents and little sister sitting in front of him getting ready for supper instead of his three older friends but the vision past just like all the others he had seen before it. The thought of his true family and his strange powers brought a sudden wave of loneliness upon him that he hadn't felt sense he found Max.  
  
"Time for some overdue explanations." Primal said and motioned for Cheetor to take a seat across from them. Once he was settled the kid cat tried to smile.  
  
"Uh.look before I tell you what I've been doing.I was wondering how the freeze ray was coming along." The explorer turned commander scowled and Cheetor found that he could not look away from his crimson optics. 'Geez the death stare! Just like dad used to do. Thought I'd never see that again!' The teenager mused to himself.  
  
"Don't try to divert our attention away from you. However if you're truly interested we'll be finished with it by tomorrow evening. Now what have you been doing sneaking out so late for the past three months?" Tigertron had already told Optimus what he had seen the boy bot doing but Primal was exacting an age old parenting tool. Tricking the kid into thinking he didn't know as much as he did to see if he'd lie.  
  
Airazor disapproved of such methods. She considered them entrapment and believed that if they were truthful with him, Cheetor would be truthful with them in return.  
  
"I.was just. (Sigh) here!" The hawk, tiger, and gorilla shared a confused glance as the freckled teen dug into his bag and pulled out a string with pearls strung on it. Cheetor walked over to AirRazor and tied the babble loosely around her neck.  
  
"It was going to be a present to celebrate you being with us for a whole year next week but now." He trailed off somewhat embarrassed and not daring to look up and see how Tigertron took the gesture. Airazor stood and embraced the young feline making him blush.  
  
"Thanks Cheetor I love it!" She smiled and sat back down holding the string out from her to admire it better. Optimus chuckled at the sight of Cheetor's burning cheeks and said,  
  
"Well if that was all then why didn't you just tell us?" The gorilla said 'Because that isn't all big bot. Primus knows I hate lying to you but I can't loose Max. I love 'em so much now.' The young seer thought as he pretended to be very interested in the floor.  
  
"You may go now." Tigertron said and once the teen was out of audio range he turned to Optimus,  
  
"Why didn't you confront him about what I told you?" Primal smiled and said,  
  
"Because so far the animal has done no harm to the base or our daily operations. If he takes too long in telling me the truth then I'll set him straight."  
  
"It's not Cheetor I'm worried about. It's the fox. It doesn't belong here Optimus and I'm afraid it will become too dependent on others help. That goes against nature." Airazor placed her sable brown hand on his turquoise one,  
  
"I doubt it would disrupt the whole web of life if we allowed Cheetor to have one little fox for a pet Tigertron." She all but coed in an amused tone. Tigertron sighed and smirked,  
  
"Well I guess I'm out numbered on this one. See you all soon." He said as he got up to leave and Airazor was visibly disappointed.  
  
"Why not spend the night in the base like the rest of us? It's just that.I get so worried about you alone out there." She walked over and took his arm in hers. The bangle tried to control a grin he felt coming on and patted her hand as he pulled away from her,  
  
"You shouldn't loose sleep over me. I have SnowStalker to watch my back after all. Goodnight my friends." He transformed and left.  
  
"SnowStalker, humph!" She mumbled, "I can't believe I'm in competition with an overgrown house cat!" The femme hawk turned to Primal with a cocky grin, "And you men think we woman are stubborn!" Optimus blinked,  
  
"I never said that!" He laughed. 


End file.
